HELP. The bead inside the pearl is loose!!!

[A Breaker]

I am almost 1/2 way thru the restringing a necklace, when I discovered that I can't thread the next pearl on my needle, because the bead inside is loose and has lost the hole alignment!!! I am so frustrated! Tried for over 1 hour to shake it back into alignment...but the hole is so tiny!! Any tips or tricks?

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I fear it may be a lost cause for that pearl. Can you do without it in the necklace? Or substitute another pearl?
If you are nearly halfway through, it was probably close to being a center pearl. Can you rearrange the pearls that are left and find one that can take its place in the strand?

We've had discussions in the past about loose nuclei. Here are two threads:

Thread 'Fixing a loose nucleus.'

Aug 21, 2008

The post by Sleight under Tahitian Pearls--Stinky Pearl Dilemma-- reminded me of something I found a solution to when I was assembling the crab bolo with the tahitian pearl tips. I was half-drilling one of the tahitians when--wouldn't you know it--the drill hit a loose nucleus (fortunately without the "black gold" or "pepe") and the nucleus began to spin, effectively putting an end to the drilling.

Bill and I talked it over and came to the conclusion that, especially since the pearl was to be secured by the post and glue method, it might be solved through the application of the very...

• J Marcus
• Replies: 11
• Forum: Cultured Pearls

Thread 'Nucleus beads rolling inside the pearls?!!!'

Feb 13, 2018

Hi everybody! I just bought these "blue Japanese akoya pearls" from an EBay seller called "chin's pearl", for 20 USD and around $4 shipping. I received them today and I think I just got myself faux pearls, but very interesting ones. So they actually look like the photos on eBay, good luster actually, and I was quite pleased until I hold them in my hand. They are really, really light. The weirdest part is I can hear the "rolling" sound from inside. They are actually gritty, and when I rubbed them together there are white powder, and when I wiped them the surface is back to normal. The...

• nnguye20
• Replies: 23
• Forum: Pearls on eBay Q & A

 

[Pearlgully]

Unfortunately, this happens! If you need the pearl, here is my solution, however, you will have to restring. I put some Vigor glue in a plastic squeeze bottle applicator. I have various sizes to fit the pearl hole. I squeeze the glue into the pearl hole so that the bead/nucleus connects to the inside of the pearl. Once the glue is dry and the bead/nucleus is stable, I drill the pearl, again.

 

[A Breaker]

Thank you both!!!! I do have some very tiny needles that I thought I would try using to rotate the bead...but I didn't know how to keep it aligned!! I am also very concerned about the rest on the strand...so I am pulling them off onto a wire, now, so this doesn't happen again

 

[pattye]

Once you find and realign the nucleus, put a fine straight head pin through the pearl until you are ready to restring, then transfer to the stringing thread.
My strand of blue baroque South Seas has multiple pearls with loose nuclei and for restringing they are held level and a pin inserted through as they're removed from the old thread.

 

[pattye]

Duh! Meant to also say that I used a thin sewing needle poked through the drill hole to manipulate the nucleus until the holes lined up, then followed the above process. With most pearls the misalignment wasn't too far off, thankfully.

 

[BWeaves]

I've had that happen to me on a strand of blue baroque akoyas from Vietnam. The color is intense, and they are very baroque, but a lot of the bead nuclei were loose. I was able to stick the needle in and keep rotating the nucleus until I found the hole, but I think there were a couple of pearls I had to discard as a lost cause. I'm NEVER restringing this necklace again, unless I absolutely have to. And then I'm keeping the old string in the hole until I can stick the needle in with the new string.

 

[A Breaker]

Thank you for all you ideas, suggestions and tips! This one was super hard...I tried finding a hole...but gave up after 1 hour. I tried again with a plastic dental floss puller.....I thought I got the hole...but ended up stuffing the pocket between the nucleus and nacre with the plastic. I had it so jammed in that it wedged the bead so it didn't move. I redrilled it and was only .25mm off the far end. I decided leaving the dental flosser in was better than trying to get that suck thing out. It might be all jacked up...but that bead is staying aligned with the nacre...for forever (at least if that is a forever plastic)! ALL the other Pearls I stuck a needle in before I pulled it off the string...Thanks BWeaves

 

[CortezPearls]

Thank you for all you ideas, suggestions and tips! This one was super hard...I tried finding a hole...but gave up after 1 hour. I tried again with a plastic dental floss puller.....I thought I got the hole...but ended up stuffing the pocket between the nucleus and nacre with the plastic. I had it so jammed in that it wedged the bead so it didn't move. I redrilled it and was only .25mm off the far end. I decided leaving the dental flosser in was better than trying to get that suck thing out. It might be all jacked up...but that bead is staying aligned with the nacre...for forever (at least if that is a forever plastic)! ALL the other Pearls I stuck a needle in before I pulled it off the string...Thanks BWeaves

Hey!
Here is a trick we used to do at the Cortez pearl farm: get your hands on a very thick cyanoacrylate glue, but you need to have one of those long dispensers, thus you will be able to get it inside the pearl. Then squeeze and fill as much as you can with the glue. Let the pearl rest in an open area with the drill hole facing up. Wait some 7 to 12 days (will depend on your climate) and check to see if the glue has hardened to the point of being able to drill the pearl again (the bead will not move now, if the glue dried up properly).